An existential problem: The sociolinguistic monitor and variation in existential constructions on Bequia (St. Vincent and the Grenadines)

Abstract

Existential constructions in a corpus of spontaneous English from Bequia (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) are used to explore a linguistic problem (Is variation in verb form in existential constructions best viewed as grammatical or lexical?) and a sociolinguistic problem (What aspects of variation change over a lifetime?). We compare "urban sojourners" (Bequians who have been away) with their home village norms. We observe differences in the frequency of the TYPE of existential preferred in different villages and by the urban sojourners. We also observe differences in whether or not the main verb agrees in number with a postposed plural subject. Building on William Labov's early discussions of constraints on variation imposed by the "sociolinguistic monitor," we suggest that variation in individual speakers supports the notion that variables that are fundamentally grammatical are less likely to mark social factors than lexical variables are. (Bequia, Caribbean English, existentials, subject-verb agreement)* I N T R O D U C T I O NExistential constructions are a topic of special interest to linguists because of their implications for theories of subject-verb agreement (e.g. Chomsky 1995; van Gelderen 1997). The examples in (1) and (2) demonstrate variation in (what we initially call) agreement in different existential constructions in the English-based varieties spoken on the island of Bequia (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) in the Eastern Caribbean (see Figure 1). Existential BE may occur as morphologically singular (1a-c) or plural (2a-b), with standard (1a, 2a) or nonstandard (1b-c, 2b) agreement with

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